It's Only a Matter of Time
by Pearl-Posts
Summary: Sebastian and Ciel left a long time ago, but Mey Rin, Finni, and Bard know they'll be back someday. It's only a matter of time. And when they are, it'll all be okay again. [overly angsty, future fic, fairly dark, really sad. You've been warned.]
1. I Believe with all My Heart

**Warning: Too much sad.**

 **Enjoy!**

She thinks about them all the time. The place they met, the place they used to work, the place their pasts stopped mattering. She still thinks about them, that small boy with the hot temper and the impossibly perfect butler.

She looks up at the manor, swinging her rifle over her shoulder, and slides her glasses over her violet bangs. Next to her, Finnian, who hasn't lost any of his childish humor even at twenty-two and working out of a Prussian mob boss's inner circles, sighs. Bardroy pops a cigarette into his mouth and chews on it slowly.

Mey Rin takes a moment to remember the Phantomhive manor, when it was dreadfully void of smiles, shadows writhing in the corners, and the boy and his butler that filled the place with warmth. She hesitantly reaches a gloved hand out to trace the gate, overgrown with dead rose vines, and can simply imagine the scolding look on the butler's face if he were to see what a mess the yard has grown in to.

"Sebastian'd be angry 'bout this," Bard says from around his smoke, eyes downcast and arms crossed.

"Yeah," Finni agrees distantly. "Think we should clean it up one day?"

"Course," Mey Rin says, withdrawing her hand. "We'll clean it up when they come back." On impulse, Mey Rin slips through the crack between the gate and starts up the drive, her long violet pigtails swinging behind her.

"Mey Rin, where're you going!" Finni calls, following her anyway.

"I just wanna look," Mey Rin sighs. "I won't be long."

She refuses to hesitate on the now mossy stone steps, or when he shoves the heavy oak door open with a loud creak. Inside, dust rules the house now, coating the windows and the furniture. The silver candlestick holders are dusty and not smiling like they used to, the flowers in the vases left dry, little brown carcases of petals strewn in circles around them. Her shoes clack on the watermarked tile and her keen eyes quickly adjust to the darkness.

"It's the 'zact same," Bard mumbles. Finni sneezes, sniffles, and blinks furiously.

Her eyes alight on the portrait hanging over the first landing on the grand staircase. It's hard to make out, faded, blanketed in shadow, and growing a putrid mold on one corner, but she knows what the subject is. Her master, Ciel Phantomhive, sitting in a chair, his loyal butler standing smiling gently behind him, a hand pressed to his sternum. She can see the blue in his eye, as vibrant as it is even in the picture, and the hesitant smile on his lips.

"It's so... dirty," Finni sniffles quietly, rubbing his eyes with one hand and balling the hem of his shirt in another. "Mister Sebastian'd be angry with us."

"We'll clean it up when Mister Sebastian and the Young Master get back, we will," Mey Rin says with surety.

"Well, when'll they be back?" Finni asks, his blithe voice still heavy with sadness.

"Don't know, Finni," Bard says reassuringly. "But they'll be back."

Of course the Young Lord and Mister Sebastian will be back. It's only a matter of time. She misses them terribly, everything from the Young Master's cold, cruel attitude to Sebastian's disapproving stare. She takes another look at the painting, and crouched down to brush away the dust on one of the tiles with her glove.

Oh yes, they'll be back.

Someday.


	2. I Don't Know How to Believe

**I know, I meant this to be a oneshot, but... oh the fluff! It's unbearable! And the plot bunnies wouldn't shut up... Thanks to KitKatLove96 for requesting this.**

 **Before I start, I just want to say that I'm** ** _not sorry._** **I'm a jerk. I know.**

 **Enjoy!**

Bard is rational. He's the eldest of the three, the most responsible, and it's his job to look out for Finnni and Mey Rin. He knows... He knows he needs to tell them the truth, but... how? How is he supposed to crush their hopes? It's like telling a small child that Santa Claus doesn't exist. He doesn't want to see that little spark, the only thing that still keeps them waking up in the morning, to fade out.

The Young Lord and Mister Sebastian aren't coming back.

He knows this, and he doesn't want to believe it, but his rational mind tells him he has to. Bard knows what exactly the Young master and Mister Sebastian did for the Queen, and in a job like that... Well, if they haven't come back yet, they probably won't. He even took the papers proclaiming the deaths of the missing persons the Earl of Phantomhive and the butler by his side.

"It's the 'zact same," Bard mumbles from the doorway. And it is. The same grand staircase, the same dining room, the same furniture.

Out of habit, Bard's gaze drifts towards the dining room. The door is hanging open on rusty hinges, the smell of years of rotten food drifting faintly from inside. But he still smiles, not at what he sees in his mind's eye, nor at the memories that were created in that dining hall, but at what he sees inside.

A taller shadow, rather, a huge overcoat flicking around the doorway and quickly out of sight and melting into the shadows like they're an old friend's embrace. And Bard smiles at the familiararity of that old cloak, of the face he can remember inside of it.

"Its so... dirty," Finnian sniffs, playing with the hem of his shirt. "Mister Sebastian'd be angry with us."

"We'll clean it up when Mister Sebastian and the Young Master get back, we will," Mey Rin says with surety.

"Well, when'll they be back?" Finni asks through his teary forest eyes.

Bard takes another quick glance at the dining room doorway, peering closely at it for half of a second. He nearly gasps. He could have sworn he saw the flash of a white glove, even, an inhumanly pink eye glowing from the darkness.

"Don't know, Finni, but they'll be back," Bard says truthfully. Maybe not tomorrow, or the next week, or even the next year. But Mister Sebastiana and the Young Lord will be back one day to come and fill the decrepit house with life again.

It's only a matter of time.


	3. I Want to Believe

**Gah! I've turned it into a multi chaptered fic! How could you let me do this! But in all honesty, thanks a lot. I've enjoyed writing this.**

 **Thanks to all of my supporters so far. This story is for you! As long as this love continues, I'll write what's going on in my silly little head. Maybe a chapter on Sebastian... or Ciel... maybe a meeting... maybe not. We'll see. Stay tuned!**

 **Written at 9 pm on a school night. Unedited, unbeta'd, and written with a sadistic version of love.**

 **Enjoy!**

Finni is twenty two now. He's not the fifteen year old kid that Sebastian hired straight out of that torture chamber all those years ago. He knows what's happened, and he lets Mey Rin and Bard think that he's still innocent because they want to look out for him. But the truth is, they don't have to any more, and Finni is okay with living a lie for a little while longer.

Bard is living a lie too, and that's what really bothers Finni. He can see it in his friend's cold eyes when they look around the old manor, how he doesn't believe any more. He wears the same expression that he wears when he wakes up from a stress induced dream about the war. The same cold, dead look.

Finni will have to make him believe.

"It's so... dirty," he sniffles through the hot tears leaking out of his eyes, watching them drip off his chin and on to the dust carpeted tile. Out of the corner of his eye, he watches Bard watch the dining room. "Sebastian'd be angry with us."

"We'll clean it up when Mister Sebastian and the Young Lord get back, we will," Mey Rin says with surety.

"Well, when'll they be back?" Finni asks, pretending, living this stupid lie as if it were reality, that he believes they're coming back. They haven't been back for a really, really long time, and Finni is starting to doubt... No. They'll be back someday.

"Don't know, Finni," Bard says with a small smile. "But they'll be back."

Finni wants to believe, he really wants to... but how can he? How can he pepper himself with hope he knows will probably never come true?

"Course they will," Mey Rin says sternly, standing from where she was crouching on the floor and moving to leave. As they step back on to the mossy porch and the door closes behind them with a great thud, Finni can't resist peeking back through a dust caked window for one last glimpse.

He could have sworn he saw a pristine and oh so familiar white glove raise as if in greeting before sliding quickly out of sight once more.

Finni lets a smile grace his lips. Maybe they will be back one day.

"It's sad to see it this way," Finni says, catching up to Mey Rin and Bard on the drive. "D'ya think we could do something?"

"I told you, we'll clean it up when they get back," Mey Rin sighs, slipping through the overgrown gate. "We'll make it ready for the young lord when he's ready to come live in it again, don't worry, Finni."

"I can't wait 'til they get back," Bard sighs, rolling his unlit cigarette between his lips. "I miss cookin' for Master Ciel."

"I miss the garden," Finni sighs. "And... I miss Plu-Plu."

"Me too," Mey Rin agrees. "I miss when we tried to make him smile."

"Hey, guys..?" Finni asks sheepishly. "D'ya think, when they come back, I mean, that Master Ciel will smile?" There's a short pause, and for a moment Finni thinks he won't get an answer at all.

"Course he will, Finni," Mey Rin assures, looking over her shoulder to meet his gaze. "I think they'll both smile."

Oh, how couldn't he have seen it before? Finni smiles widely, looking up at the sky. Somewhere, Sebastian and Ciel are under the same sky, and someday, they'll all be under the same roof again and everything will be the exact same as it was when they were kids.

Mister Sebastian and Master Ciel will definitely be back one day.

It's only a matter of time.

 **Heh. Want more? Tell me! You all rock. -sends tons of love-**


	4. I Have a Reason to Believe

**GUYS! I think this s the most popular story I've ever written! Wow, thank you so, so much! And I have so many shout outs to give!**

 **Thanks to GodzillaFollower1998, Kimberly T, Ditzy Queen, sonadowfanvampiregirl57, promocat, and Randomgurl14 for all of your support! You guys are the reason this is alive and the reason I'm having any fun at all in high school. And without a little bit of fun, what is life?**

 **So, have fun reading this!**

Sebastian knows how dangerous it is, even for a creature like himself. He and the young master parted ways a long time ago, but he still visits the manor when he can. He knows it's dangerous to get attached to the human world, but... Ah, no. He's fooling himself again. How... human.

His boots are sharp against the dusty tile, the darkness of the manor seeming to him like nothing more than a dim twilight. Ah, if any of those servants saw what a mess the place has become, what would they think of him then? He chuckles to himself at the thought. Missing a human besides Ciel? Even three as respectable as the servants? Although they were childish fools, they were certainly entertaining in the least.

Oh dear, here they come!

He hides himself quickly in the shadows, tense. He is a demon, but these humans are truly a force to be reckoned with.

"It's the 'zact same," Bard mumbles. Sebastian rolls his wine red eyes. Of course it is, silly man. With Sebastian's eyes on it, what possibly could have happened?

"It's so... dirty," Finni inputs, twisting the hem of his shirt around his fingers. "Sebastian'd be angry with us." Ah, if they only knew the half of it! Sebastian even has the sudden urge to step out of his hiding spot and comfort him. No, no, I am not angry. You've done well. But he shakes this thought away, sighing internally at himself. Perhaps he needs to go back to Hell. He's become soft.

"We'll clean it up when Mister Sebastian and the Young Lord get back, we will," Mey Rin declares. Sebastian closes his eyes. They are so stubborn. How long has it been, and still they wait? Love can truly play inane tricks on the mind.

"Well, when'll they be back?" Finni asks. Sebastian listens to the sunlight warm his voice again. So familiar... Stop that! You're a demon, so act like it. He tells his feet to move, to leave through the kitchen door and through the garden out back, but his feet don't move.

"Don't know, Finni," Bard says comfortingly. "But they'll be back."

Will he? Sebastian has asked himself this question again and again. Should he come back? Why would he? Does he actually have a reason to participate in this mortal world any more? Humans live such fragile lives; why should he even bother?

Why should he not bother? After all, he played the role of human for these people. He has a life as Sebastian Michaelis, and he's watching it crumble away. There will be more humans, and there will be more roles to play, but will there ever be a Sebastian Michaelis again?

The trio leave, a loud creak and an echoing boom serving as their departing fanfare. Sebastian finds himself at the window, lifting a white gloved hand to the glass in a mock farewell, but quickly lowering it and retreating back into the shadows when he could have sworn Finni met his eyes. Once their backs are turned, Sebastian presses closer to the window again, all but grinning to himself.

Oh, yes. Sebastian Michaelis will be back. He doesn't know when, but he surely will.

It's only a matter of time.

 **Hmmm... I feel... Like I need to analyze Sebastian's character better. XD Sorry about that! Also, I WILL write more of this, so you don't have to worry! Comment of you want more, like what exactly you want to see and I'll take your suggestions. I have a vague idea of where I'm going with this and two completely different possible outcomes, one really heartbreaking and the other uplifting. I'll do a coin toss or something (JK XD).**

 **So, love you and stay tuned!**


	5. I Always Knew Believing Hurt

**My ending. Its crappy but I didn't ever mean for this to be multi chaptered... I tried. For you.**

 **Thanks to wildchild00, promocat, and Kimberly T!**

 **With love, enjoy!**

It's just like he remembers. Like the one that burned down twice when he was still a child. Now, he stands in front of the same cast iron gate and the same manicured lawns, the same delicate trees, the same sparkling manor. The demon earl walks entranced down the drive, his child sized walking stick making periodic holes in the packed dirt. His sapphire blue waistcoat does nothing to keep out the biting cold, but he doesn't mind in the slightest.

It's here. It's still standing.

So why does he hate it so much?

It feels as though it shouldn't be. His life as Ciel Phantomhive, lost countless years ago when a careless, angry order ripped his butler from him and he never saw him again. He can still remember what he said, his hand singing in pain from the slap he gave with his newfound demonic strength, "Then leave if you hate me so much now, and don't come back! That's an order, now get out!" The amethyst mark on his eye, still there and always reminding him of what he did wrong. His regrets.

He pushes the door open with his shoulder, practically falling inside and tripping on the gleaming floors. Why is it like this? Why is there fire lighting the candelabra? Why are there fresh white roses in the vases? Why is he even back here?

A single answer comes to mind, and he tries to shake it away, but it sticks as soundly as his Faustian seal.

Sebastian.

He scoffs at himself. No, Sebastian wouldn't come back. This was just another job for him, just a soul that got away. He shakes his head, his feet moving unconsciously towards the stairs and to the upper landing. His feet roam the familiar hallways, gaping at the perfection of everything. Until he reaches a certain door. His gloved hand wraps around the intricate handle and it clicks open, gliding silently on oiled hinges.

The study. Every book perfectly aligned on the shelves, his chair inviting and ready, arms out like an old friend. There is even an inkwell embracing a quill, and his documents stacked neatly on the desk. Ciel finds himself pressed into the chair before he realizes it, the quill in his hand, ready to use, a spread of documents dated... oh, that's how long ago it was.

For a moment, it all seemed real. The room, the feeling, even the smell... of... cake...

Knock, knock. Ciel whips his head up as the door opens in an oh so familiar way, and... and... oh!

"Se- Sebastian?"

"Hello, my lord," the demon greets in his velvet voice, a hand pressed to his sternum. "You've finally come back."

"Sebastian!" His old self would be appalled at how he's treating his servant, as if he were an equal, but in fact, the older Ciel realizes it doesn't matter any more, and it never really has in the first place. Sebastian, the butler, the demon, and whether he's willing to admit it or not, the friend, is back, and now everything can be exactly like it was once again.

"I can't believe you're here," Ciel stands at the desk, scattering his very old papers everywhere. "I thought you left."

"And I you my lord," Sebastian admits. "But I suppose we knew we'd meet again. It was only a matter of time, wasn't it?"

It suddenly dawns on Ciel how long it's really been. Sure, the manor is the same, but the rest of the world has long since moved on. Everyone he knew, everyone he was friends with are gone. While he was waiting, the world never stopped. He knew he'd come back eventually, but how long did he wait?

Yes, he supposes it was only a matter of time in the end.


End file.
